Abstract

Because conditions caused by the inhalation of dust are so frequently involved in litigation it is necessary that they be defined with the greatest clarity. Our terminology developed forty to fifty years ago, before the pathology of such conditions had been worked out. Pneumoconiosis was the term coined to designate disease of the lungs due to inhaled dust, regardless of its nature. Anthracosis, siderosis, chalicosis, silicosis were specific forms of pneumoconiosis due to inhaled coal, iron, stone dust and silica respectively. All were considered of equal significance as it was believed that any dust was merely a foreign body which,